Reborn in Russia as a Big Shot

3. Flying in the Snow

China's accession to the WTO in 2001 spurred global demand for commodities, causing prices to skyrocket. Russia, as a resource-exporting country, has become incredibly wealthy in recent years.

Old Li sensed the money and acted swiftly, airlifting samples of thermal underwear to St. Petersburg in just four days.

"I thought the goods had arrived, but it's just a sample." Natasha opened the package and held up the different styles against herself.

"We can start selling as soon as the samples arrive. We'll collect a deposit first to finalize the contract, and then pay the balance after the goods arrive." Li Xiang was fiddling with a DSLR camera, which had also been shipped over by air.

Natasha beamed and urged, "Then don't stay home, hurry up and find the seller! I'll go with you."

Li Xiang looked up at Natasha but didn't say anything.

A few seconds later, Natasha pouted and said, "Fine, I won't ask about the business. Do whatever you want."

Li Xiang smiled with satisfaction, "Take some display photos. Lao Xie will need them when he's promoting the product. You'll be the model, and you'll get paid."

Natasha said, enunciating each word clearly, "Not interested."

Li Xiangyou said, "I'm your boyfriend, but I can only support you to cover your normal living expenses. I can't possibly buy you both a house and a car, can I?"

"We can rewrite the script and portray me as someone obsessed with love, but the question is whether others will believe it, and whether it will arouse suspicion from the investigation team?"

"Models' income is public knowledge. As long as you pay taxes, you can spend it however you want, and no one will care if you transfer it abroad."

Natasha thought for a moment, "Then you'll have to set my salary higher."

Li Xiang smiled and said, "Anyway, it's all coming from your share, so I don't have to spend any money. As long as it's within a reasonable range, it's fine."

Natasha frowned. "Are all you business people this ruthless? You can squeeze oil out of rocks?"

Li Xiang continued to press the issue, "Don't underestimate fashion models. Their income is no less than that of celebrities. Several international supermodels earn over a million dollars a year."

"Once our own brand is registered, I'll ask you to be our spokesperson. With your looks and figure, plus the added value of our relationship, your $50,000 can be easily laundered into an endorsement fee. This money will be earned openly, legally, and legitimately, and no one can find fault with it."

Natasha was somewhat tempted. "This plan is quite good, but I feel like I've somehow ended up working for you, or even as free labor."

Li Xiang pressed, "Give me a straight answer, or I'll find someone else."

Natasha took the samples back to her room. "I'm going to change my clothes."

[Dependence: 16 (+1)/100]

Li Xiang has been researching cheat codes these past few days. Both of them have the same relationship appeal, "hoping for one's son to become a dragon," but Old Li only triggered the experience once, while his mother triggered it three times in a row.

The phrase "hoping one's son becomes a dragon" doesn't refer to Li Xiang's actual growth; it simply means that the condition has been met as long as one believes that Li Xiang has grown.

The same applies to Natasha and Li Xiang's dependent relationship; as long as Natasha feels that she depends on Li Xiang more, the value will increase.

However, this is only a feature pattern that Li Xiang summarized based on system feedback, and its accuracy remains to be verified.

When Natasha came back after changing her clothes, she was wearing a V-neck dress with lace trim, all white and showing off her figure.

Li Xiang joked, cursing, "Who was the idiot who designed this? With half of my chest showing outside my thermal underwear, how can it keep me warm?"

"It's so pretty, that's why it sells so well." Natasha quite liked it.

"Go change to another set; let Lao Xie find someone else to shoot this one."

Natasha's eyes flickered slightly, and she seemed to understand what Li Xiang meant. She crossed her arms and said, "Li Xiang, we're just pretending to be a couple. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

Li Xiang put on a pretentious, serious face, "Only I can see through your pretense."

"You have no right to look." Natasha pulled up her collar, pouted, and turned to leave to change her clothes.

Li Xiang preemptively registered the trademark SNOWFLYING in Russia.

Snowflake has not yet entered the international market, and consumers in Russia have never heard of this brand. Even if they know a little about it, they will assume that Snowflake is opening up a new business and entering the thermal underwear market.

Aren't you afraid someone will investigate?

They have the same name, but different trademarks, so they are two separate brands. As long as they don't sell under the "Snow in Flight" brand, there is no commercial fraud.

Li Xiang wanted to save trouble and directly sell the goods to the wholesale market, but Sergei felt that he couldn't just take the money for nothing with such a high salary, so he started skipping classes frequently to go to various shopping malls to find retail vendors.

Old Li worked overtime, pedaling the sewing machine until it was practically smoking, and finished 10,000 thermal underwear pieces in eight and a half days.

The slow part is transportation; it's by sea and takes 45 days to reach St. Petersburg.

In November, the north wind howls in St. Petersburg, and even urinating on the roadside makes you shiver from the cold; thermal underwear is a hot commodity.

While the ship was still adrift at sea, Sergei had already secured most of the orders. Moreover, by bypassing the local wholesalers, the expected profit was 20% higher than before.

-

Victory Bar.

"Why am I having such bad luck lately? I've lost everything again."

Pavel is considered one of the more powerful clothing importers in St. Petersburg. People in the industry say he has connections with the skinheads and that no one dares to mess with him because he bullies and dominates the market.

Sasha, the younger brother, brought over two glasses of beer with a fawning expression. "If you're unlucky, don't bother playing."

"I'd like to keep playing, but I need money first." Pavel took a big gulp of beer and asked coldly, "How's the investigation going?"

Sasha replied, "We've found out everything. The kid who stole our business is called Sergei Ponomarenko. He's a sophomore at St. Petersburg State University and he's Belarusian."

Pavel raised an eyebrow. "What's your background?"

Sasha further stated, "He has no connections; his roommate is Chinese, and the two of them work together as agents for the Chinese-owned brand Snowflake."

"Have you found out? Many of the Belarusians who come here to study are from wealthy and powerful families." Pavel was still very cautious.

Sasha said smugly, "I already checked with their classmates."

"That Belarusian kid has been skipping classes and working since his freshman year, and he has to pay for his tuition himself. What kind of background could he have? The Chinese guy, on the other hand, comes from a wealthy family. I heard he's in business."

Pavel muttered, "These two brats are young but have a lot of guts."

Sasha suggested, "Shall we teach them a lesson?"

Pavel's eyes flickered slightly, and he lowered his voice to instruct, "Find out when their goods will arrive and tell me."

Sasha's face lit up with joy. "Boss, you mean...?"

"Don't pry into things you shouldn't know." Pavel raised his glass and clinked it with his underling's. "Thermal underwear, you must have quite a lot of stock sitting on you, right? If you don't get rid of theirs, how are we going to sell ours?"

"We need to teach them a lesson. This is St. Petersburg. When they come to our territory, they have to follow our rules."

-

Natasha was mopping the floor, bent over, and looking in through the neckline, where two large lights were swaying.

Li Xiang was busy doing the accounts.

[Hostile relationship: Vladimir Pavel]

new function?

Although the system only provided the name and could not provide further information at the moment, Li Xiang was very familiar with the name.

In his previous life, he had been swindled by this bald guy once while reselling clothes in St. Petersburg.

At this point in time, skinheads are rampant in Russia; they are mostly racists who specifically target foreigners to commit crimes.

Belarusians are indistinguishable from other citizens in appearance; they are considered quasi-citizens, and the five Central Asian republics and other independent states are also considered half-brothers.

If you get to Li Xiang, who has an East Asian face, then you're basically a sitting duck.

"Lift your foot! I'm mopping the floor," Natasha said irritably.

"Speak gently to your husband." Natasha pulled Li Xiang back to reality and said softly, "You've been pampered since childhood, are you even capable of doing housework? Give me the mop."

Natasha smiled sweetly and handed the mop to Li Xiang, "You're quite considerate, aren't you? All you do is bully me all day long."

Russian gangs are among the most dangerous in the world, characterized by their professionalism.

In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a large number of agents and military personnel were laid off and re-employed, and were absorbed into the professional pool of gangs.

Mafia-style family gangs like Natasha's are extremely rare; only high-end clients can afford them.